Steel major ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AM/NS India) is conducting a feasibility study for its proposed 12-million-tonne-per-annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant in Kendrapada district.
“The company officials with the help of the State Government are now conducting a feasibility study at the field for establishment of a project in Kendrapada,” said a senior officer of the Industries Department.
The Government has identified a location for the proposed steel plant and the officials are doing a field study, he said, adding that the company would require over 1,000 acres of land for the project.
After completing the study, the company would submit a formal proposal in the Single Window System for approval of the Government, the official said. The Government would extend all possible support for execution of the mega project that would bring over a Rs 50,000-crore investment to the State and also create huge employment opportunities, he said. The Gujarat-based AM/NS India has signed an MoU with the State government for the greenfield project with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and company head Lakshmi N Mittal were present during the agreement-signing ceremony held in Bhubaneswar.
Describing Kendrapada as the ‘Karma Bhumi’ of his late father Biju Patnaik, the Chief Minister had said the place provides ideal prospects for an integrated steel complex. Notably, the AMNS India is a 60:40 joint venture company between Mittal’s Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal and the Nippon Steel of Japan.
The Thakurani iron ore mines in Odisha, which the AMNS India has won in an auction process, is now operating at full 5.5-MTPA capacity. The company has other projects in the State including the 6-MTPA pelletisation plant at Paradip, which is being expanded to 12-MTPA; a beneficiation complex in Keonjhar and a slurry pipeline that are operational.